ernestsewell said:

Name the huge hits he had after the Dancing on the Ceiling album.
You would be hard pressed to count them on one hand.

phunkdaddy said:

I never said that to begin with, so it's a moot point.

It's listenable but it's my least favorite song on the album. It kinda has a late 1980s feel to it even though it wasn't the late 1980s yet.

phunkdaddy said:

ernestsewell said:

Read reply 33

phunkdaddy said:

Let me refresh ALL of what I said, "I don't know why Lionel gets a bad rap as a solo artist. It's stupid and short-minded. He still wrote great songs, and had huge hits. He left Commodores at the right time."

His solo efforts were well received and he had plenty of top 10 and #1 hits. The man then didn't make music for 10 years, so anyone would be hard pressed to find a song - since they didn't exist.

ernestsewell said:

Speaking for myself, I want Lionel to bring the FUNK and the SOUL, not this mainstream pop/wedding-music bullshit.

uPtoWnNY said:

Then go listen to old Commodore albums. Lionel makes pop/R&B music and great ballads. He's known for that. That is what he does well as a solo artist. It's like asking Prince to sing Japanese pop music. It's not what he does.

ernestsewell said:

Not to beat this argument to death because in a nutshell it's not that
serious. Some prefer his solo work,some don't. It's a given he's a great
songwriter. Nobody's even disputing the fact that he left the Commodores
at the right time,it's just that he never seemed to return to his roots
that jump started his career.
He didn't make records for a period of ten years between 1987 and 1995
because of personal issues i.e marriage and the death of his father.
Since 1996 he has recorded 6 studio albums which has spawned very little
success. By then his time was up as the case is with a lot of 80's artists.
Now he's playing the "let's work with current writers and producers" game
now and it's not faring much better outside of 2006's I Call it Love
which i did like. That's my only point. You can count on one hand
the number of hits he's had since 1996.

phunkdaddy said:

Do It To Me
21 Hot 100 »
1 R&B/Hip-Hop Songs »
3 Adult Contemporary »


Don't Want To Lose You
39 Hot 100 »
17 R&B/Hip-Hop Songs »
5 Adult Contemporary »
30 Adult Pop Songs »


I Call It Love
62 Hot 100 »
19 R&B/Hip-Hop Songs »
10 Dance/Club Play Songs »
6 Jazz Songs »
36 Radio Songs »
9 Adult Contemporary »
60 European Hot 100 »


Just For You
92 Hot 100 »
14 Dance/Club Play Songs »
6 Adult Contemporary »


Angel
70 Hot 100 »
65 Radio Songs »
4 Adult Contemporary »


I Hear Your Voice
15 Adult Contemporary »


Time
7 Adult Contemporary »

ernestsewell said:

daPrettyman said:

Interestingly,4 of those songs never sniffed r&b radio. The latter
4 songs were mainly AC format. Never heard of Just For You, I Hear
Your Voice. Only 2 of the songs made the top 40 on the Hot 100
charts further cementing my point.

phunkdaddy said:

I really enjoyed the "Time" and "Renaissance" albums. I didn't really care for "Just For You". He had a hit song overseas with Daniel Beddingfield that's on that album.

I was like you until I saw how well his stuff did on the AC charts. It's interesting because the AC station in my area didn't really play the AC songs from "Renaissance", "Time" or "Just For You". I guess other markets played it, though.

At that point, Lionel gave up on R&B radio because r&b radio didn't play his stuff outside of the Commodores. For the most part, they wouldn't even play songs like "Hello", "All Night Long" or "You Are". All of those songs were r&b hits, but Urban AC won't spin them.

Fav solo song by Lionel Richie...reminds me of Kenny Loggin's Love Will Follow, which was out around the same time.

I like his 1992 hit "Do It To Me" That one is a little more soulful than most of the stuff he was doing back then.I especially like the bridge:

my friends....they say I'm a dreamer
it takes a fool in love to know what I'm feeling
Each time you say goodbye
I find a reason why
To give us one more try

ernestsewell said:

Maybe a large portion of his fan base no longer took him and his great Love songs too seriously after he caught a beat down from his wife after disrespecting and humiliating her. I agreed with him and him in one night.

daPrettyman said: